Card cabinet



March 5, 1935. G. T. GOURLEY ET AL 1,993,477

CARD CABINET Filed Sept. 14, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 [IQ r5 March 1935- G. T. GOURLEY ET AL 1,993,477

CARD CABINET Filed Sept. 14, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Mar. 5, 1935 1,993,477

UNITED STATES PATENT, OFFICE CARD CABINET Glenn Theodore Gourley and Frank Joseph Malat, Youngstown, Ohio, assignors to The General Fireproofing Company, Youngstown, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application September 14, 1934, Serial No. 744,062 9 Claims. (01. 45-94) This invention relates to filing cabinets, and Figure 3 is a detail horizontal sectional view has particular reference to certain desirable imshowing the drawer latch; and provements in filing cabinets especially designed Figures 4, 5 and 6 are detail sectional views for the filing of cards and the like and of the type showing different positions of a tray relative to 5 comprising a casing having drawers slidably its related drawer. 5 mounted therein and two-or more trays slidably Figure 7 is a detail sectional view on line 7-7 and removably mounted on each drawen of Fig. l through'the finger knob of the drawer One special object of the invention is to prolatch. vide a novel drawer and tray latch combination Referring to the drawings in detail, A desig- 10 comprising a latch individual to each drawer to nates, generally, a filing cabinet casing which is 10' hold the same in a closed position within the formed preferably, but not necessarily, from sheet cabinet for ready withdrawal upon release of the metal and which may be of any desired dimenlatch, and a latch individual to each tray to sions, said casing having slidably mounted there positively hold the latterin a closed position relain in any known or desired manner, as by tive to the related drawer when the latter is in suspension means as illustrated conventionally 15 a closed position, and to permit ready withdrawal in Fig. 1 and designated generally as 10, a pluralor removal of the tray from the drawer when the ity of open-top, open-front drawers I1 each comdrawer is moved to an open position. prising a bottom wall 12, side walls 13 and a Another special object of the invention is to, rear wall 14.

provide a drawer latch having a' plurality of The drawers 11 are arranged in superimposed 20 finger engageable elements for actuation to rerelationship and may be of any desired height lease the same, and to locate said elements with and. detail construction. Preferably they correspect to the handle of the related trays so that respond in width to the casing A, but the casing a person grasping the handle of any tray by one A may be of a width to accommodate two or v hand may, by a finger of the same hand, readily more tiers of drawers arranged in side to side 25 and easily effect release of the drawer latch to relationship and two or more tiers of drawers'may' permit withdrawal of the latter and the trays be arranged ,therein. The drawers constitute carried thereby. holders for card trays designated generally as Another object of the invention is to provide 15, and in this connection each drawer. may be novel drawer and tray latch devices and, in genof a width to accommodate any desired plurality era], to provide a cabinet of the character stated of card. trays disposed in side to side relationship.

having a latch combination as mentioned, which Preferably, however, each drawer is of a width cabinet is of simple, sturdy construction and of to accommodate two trays as shown.

relatively low production cost. on one of the side walls of the casing A at With the foregoing and other objects in view, the side of each drawer compartment is suitably which will become more fully apparent as the provided an abutment or keeper 16 for cooperanature of the invention is better understood, the tion with a latch 17 carried by the related drawer same consists in the novel features of construcat the front thereof to hold the drawer closed.

tion, combination and arrangement of parts as In the present instance each keeper 16 comprises 4 will be hereinafter more fully described, illusa tongue struck inwardly from the side wall of 40 trated in the accompanying drawings and defined the casing and each latch 17 comprises a rod or in the appended claims. bar disposed at the inner side of a reinforcing,

Inthe drawings, wherein like characters of reffinishing and stiffening flange l8 constituting a erence denote corresponding parts in the difdownwardly directed extension of the bottom wall i'erent views:-- of eachdrawer.

Figure l is a perspective view of a cabinet con- Each latch bar or rod 17 is of a length to comstrueted in accordance with the invention and pletely underlie one tray compartment and at showing one of the drawers withdrawn and the least'a part of the other tray compartment of manner of removing a tray therefrom, and anthe related drawer, and each latch 'bar is proother tray being inserted into a drawer which vided with a pair of pins 19 projecting forwardly is in a closed position. through related slots 20 in the related flange 18 Figure 2 is a detail perspective view of the rear wherebythe latch bar is supported for longitudiend portion of one of the drawers and the rear nal sliding movement transversely of the drawer. end portion of a related tray showingthe tray The forward face of each keeper 16 and the latch means. related end of each latch bar 17 is inclined rearwardly and inwardly so that when any given drawer is slid to a closed position within the casing A the latch bar rides over the keeper. Also, a suitable spring 21 connects each latch bar 5 with its related drawer and acts constantly to slide the latch bar in a direction to project the effective latching end of the same behind the related keeper 16 so that when any given drawer is closed it becomes automatically latched in that position.

Each tray 15 isprovided at its forward end with a handle 22 for use in withdrawingremoving and inserting the tray from and within its related drawer. Also, each latch bar pin 19 is provided with a knob 23 exposed at the front of the flange 18 for finger manipulation to slide the latch bar to a disengaged position relative to its keeper 16 to permit withdrawal of the drawer. In this connection it will be observed that the knobs 23 are related, one to each tray handle, and are so disposed relative to said handles, respectively, that when the trays are lit umb or finger of the same hand, manipulate the related knob 23 to release the drawer latch 1'7.

Each drawer 11 is divided into two tray compartments by a central, forwardly and rearwardextending partition 24 constituting a guide for e inner side of each of the two drawers 15 dissed in said compartments. On the other hand, g sides 25 for the outer sides of the trays are fastsned, respectively, against the inner faces of the drawer side walls 13.

Struck from or suitably secured to one the guides 25 of each drawer neanthe inner end "thereof is a laterally directed lug '26, a counterpart 26' of which projects from the remote side the relatedpartition 24, and each tray 15 is provided at its inner end with a corner recess 27 to accommodate the related lug when the tray is a closed position. Within the recessed corner of each tray is a guide casing 28 and within each guide casing is slidably mounted for vertical ovement a latch 29 for cooperation with the related lug 26 or 26'. Each latch 29' is urged constantly upwardly by a spring 30 and comprises a bar recessed at its rear to accommodate the related lug 26 or26 and itself formed with a lug :31 having a beveled edge so that when the tray is slid to a closed position the latch 29 automatieaily engages its related lug and positively latches the tray against removal from its drawer as long as the latter is closed, since the latch 29 is inaccessible except when the related drawer is opened. However, the bottom of each drawer is cut away at its rear as at 32 so that any tray may be tilted upwardly at its front end to disengage its latch from the related lug when the drawer is opened, as illustrated in Fig. 6, thereby to permit the tray either to be slid outwardly or,

if desired, to be entirely removed from the draw- From the foregoing it is clear that any drawer may he slid into or may be withdrawn from the casing A at any time; also, that any tray may he slid to a closed position within its related drawer at any time regardless of whether the drawer is open or closed. On the other hand, it is clear that if any particular drawer is closed, the related trays, if in closed position therein, cannot be withdrawn or removed therefrom until the drawer is opened. Accordingly, the tray handles constitute means to be grasped for the purpose of withdrawing the drawers, and since Gil r nsed, a person grasping the handle of either with one hand may conveniently, by a the drawer latch actuators 23 are related to and are disposed adjacent to the tray handles 22, respectively, where they may be manipulated to disengage the drawer latch by a finger or the thumb of the same hand which is engaged with 5 either tray handle, it follows that any given drawer may be opened with great facility.

Preferably the pins 19 are provided with washers 33 to overlie and hide the slots 20 at all times. Preferably, too, the tray sides are, in effect, provided with recesses 34 extending downwardly from their upper edges near the fronts of the trays to afford finger access to 'cards or the like contained within the trays, but these are desirable features which may or may not be incorporated as desired.

Without further description it is thought that the features and advantages of the invention will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and it will of course be understood that changes in the form, proportion and minor details of construction may be resorted to, without departing from the spirit of the invention and scope of the appended claims.

We claim:--

1. A filing cabinet comprising a casing, a drawer slidably mounted therein, releasable latch means to hold the drawer in a closed position within the casing, a tray slidably mounted within the drawer, releasable latch means to hold the tray in a closed position within the drawer, a handle for the tray, and an actuator for the drawer latch means located adjacent to said handle, said tray latch means being automatically operable upon closing of the tray when the drawer is closed to latch the tray closed and to positively prevent opening of the tray until the drawer is opened, and said drawer latch means being automatically operable upon closing of the drawer to latch the drawer closed until its latch means is manually released.

2. A filing cabinet comprising a casing, a drawer slidably mounted therein, a plurality of trays slidably mounted within the drawer, latch means for holding the trays within the drawer, each tray having a handle, latch means to hold the drawer closed, and a plurality of actuators for the drawer latch means individually related and located relative to the tray handles, respectively, so that a person grasping the handle of any tray with one hand may, with a finger of the same hand, manipulate the related drawer latch actuator to effect release of the drawer latch.

3. A filing cabinet comprising a casing, a drawer slidably mounted therein, a plurality of trays slidably mounted in side to side relationship within the drawer, a handle at the front of each tray, latch means for holding the trays within the drawer, and latch means to hold the drawer closed, said drawer latch means comprising a keeper on the casing and a cooperating latch element slidably mounted on the drawer and having a plurality of actuating devices individually related to and located adjacent to the tray handles, respectively, when the trays are closed.

4. A filing cabinet comprising a casing, a drawer slidably mounted therein, a plurality of trays slidably mounted in side to side relationship within the drawer, a handle at the front of each tray, latch means for holding the trays with in the drawer, and latch means for holding the drawer closed, said drawer latch means comprising a keeper on a side of the casing, a cooperating latch bar mounted on the front of the drawer I5 ocate for horizontal sliding movement hetween latched and unlatched positions, and a plurality of actu ating elements for said bar individually related to the tray handles, respectively, and exposed at the front of the drawer adjacent to said handles.

5. A filing cabinet comprising a casing, a drawer slidably mounted therein, a tray slidably mounted within the drawer, releasable latch means to hold the drawer closed, a handle on the front of said tray, an actuating element for said drawer latch means exposed at the front oi the drawer adjacent to said handle, and latch means to hold the tray within the drawer, said tray latch means being disposed to he haecceesihle when the drawer and the tray are closed.

6. a filing cabinet comprising a casing, a draw er slidahly mounted therein, a tray elidahly mounted within the drawer, releasable latch means tor holding the tray within the drawer, the tray having a handle, releasable latch means to hold the drawer closed, and an actuator for the drawer latch means located relative to the tray handleso that a person grasping the tray handle with one hand may, with a zinger of the same hand, manipulate the drawer latch actuator to efiect release of the drawer latch.

i. A filing cabinet at set lorth in claim 6 in which the actuator for the drawer latch is dispowd below the tray handle and is laterally shiit= able to eiiect release of the drawer latch.

8. A filing cabinet comprising a casing, a draw er slidahly mounted therein, a tray slidably mounted within the drawer, means for manual manipulation to slide the tray relative to the drawer, releasable latch means to hold the draw-= er closed, tray latch means efiective when the tray closed tc prevent outward movement of the tray relative to the career as long as the drawer closed, and an actuator for said drawer latch means dls ecsed adjacent to said tor sliding the tray.

e A :llhig cabinet comprising a casing, a draw= er slidahly mounted therein, a tray sliclahle mounted within the drawer, a handle at the front oi the tray, latch means to hold the tray the drawer, a keeper on the casing, a cooperating latch loar mounted on the front of the for sliding movement between latched and un latched neslticne, means tending constantly to move said bar to a latched position, and a bar actuator exposed at the front oi the drawer adja cent to the trat handle when the tray is closed.

FRANK J. MALAT. GLENN Tl-EOBQRE 

